Wood-bending machine.



N0.'762,092. I PATENTED JUNE 7, 1904. L. G. SCHMIDT & A. T. MoDONALD.

WOOD BENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16. 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

R0 MODEL.

mi mm ,/M 9. JM

WITNESSES:

out

A TTORNEY.

. No. 762,092. PATENTED JUNE 7, 1904. L. G. SGHMIDT'GE A- T. MoDONALD.

WOOD BBNDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPTJG, 1903.

2 SHEETS-$111311! 2.

N0 MODEL.

WI TIlE-SSES mmyrans .4 rronwfr.

n4: ncnms vzrzns co PNOTO-LITHQ, WASHINGTON. a. c.

UNITED STATES liatented dune "7, 1904.

PATENT OEEIcE.

LOUIS G. SCHMIDT AND ANDREW T. MCDONALD, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

WOOD-BENDING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 762,092, dated June 7, 1904. Application filed September 16,1903. Serial No. 173,416. No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

, Be it known that we, LOUIS G. SCHMIDT, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, and AN- DREW T. MoDoNALD, a subject of the King of Great Britain, both residents of the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certaincnew and useful Improvements in Wood-Bending Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in wood-bending machines, and more particularly to improvements in machines for bending wood for the handles of umbrellas, canes, and like articles.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and in which similar letters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views, Figure l is a plan, partly in section, of our wood-bending machine; Fig. 2, a side elevation, partly in section, of Fig. 1; Fig. '3, a rear elevation, upon an enlarged scale, of one of the carriers for holding a piece of wood during the bending operation; Fig. 4, an enlarged section of part of the machine upon line A A, Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a section of Fig. 4 on line B B; Fig. 6, a section of Fig. 4. on line C C.

(a is a frame upon which the machine is carr1e b is a former, preferably constructed of metal, which is open at the bottom and ends, and the sides of which, passing front to rear, slant toward one another, while the top, passing from the front to the rear, slopes upwardv that is to say, at the front the former has a substantially rectangular section which is much longer than high, while at the rear it has a substantially parabolic section which is as high or higher than it is wide.

0 represents carriers for holding the wood to be bent. They consist of two pieces of metal 0 f, forming pockets, secured together by a band 9. The parts 6 f of the carriers are open upontheir fronts and at their inner sides, so as to facilitate the insertion or removal of the wood to be bent.

at, Fig. 5, represents guides on the lower inner sides of the former 5 which are adapted to engage and carry the ends 9 f of the carriers 0 or, if the carriers be not used, the ends of the sticks. These guides confine the ends of the sticks, prevent them from spreading, and insure the bending upward of the sticks, so that their outer sides will hug the under face of the former while they are be ing driven through it.

it is a shaft, driven inany suitable manner, which carries a cam or cams c, which are adapted during their revolution to engage and move forward the plungers 7', which are carried by suitable guides is, carried by the frame a. v

The piece of wood to be bent is placed in one of the carriers 0, and this latter is then placed in the machine between the plungers j and the front of the former b. Upon the forward movement of the plungers by the cams 2' the carrier and the piece of wood carried thereby is driven into the forward end of the former 6. The carrier cis so placed in the machine that the band or strap g will be above the wood to be bent, not only that the under side of the wood may be exposed directly to the heat and steam during the process of bending, as presently described, but to prevent a direct contact between the wood and the former b, as well as to prevent its tearing or splintering upon the outside during the bending. A carrier 0 having been driven into the forward end of the former b and the operative part of cam 11 having been moved past. the plunger, the latter is immediately drawn back into its first position by a weight Z and cord m or by any other suitable device, As soon as the plunger has been returned to its first position another carrier 0, with a piece of wood to be bent, is placed in between it and the front of the former Z), and upon the forward movement of the plunger this carrier and its contents is driven into the former 6, driving before it the first carrier. Carriers arethus successively driven into and through the former 6. Within the former b are means for steaming or for heating the wood, both or either. We have shown the former b furnished with three tubes running lengthwise of it, the tubes n 0 being gas-carrying tubes and the tube 10 being a steamcarrying tube. The tubes are furnished with perforations to permit the escape of gas and steam. The gas is lighted and heats the wood upon the inner side during the bending, while the steam at the same time plays upon it. In order to prevent the outer part of the wood from being charred by the flames, we preferably plaee between it and the band 9 a sheet of asbestos '1', Fig. 5. The carriers and the bent wood carried by them pass out the rear end of the former b and along a guide or table 8, Figs. 1, 2, and 4, during which time they may be played upon by streams of water from pipes w w, the former above and the latter below them.

In bending very hard woodsboxwood, for instance it is advisable to thoroughly steam them before putting them through the machine; but with woods of ordinary hardness no preliminary steaming is necessary.

The wood to be bent being frequently more or less crooked will in some cases bend up the band or strap 9, so that the carrier carrying it cannot well enter the forward end of the former b. In cases of this nature we make use of the lever t, which is pivoted upon the top of the former at its front and center and which is adapted to be moved down to engage the top of a strap g, as shown in Fig. I, to press this strap and the wood in the carrier down until the carrier has been forced into the former.

a (best shown in Fig. 5) represents guides in which the ends (if of the carriers 0 travel in their passage through the former.

The end f of the carrier is shown as larger than the end 0. This is because one end of a cane or umbrella handle is usually larger than the other. If the ends of the stick to be bent are of the same diameter, both ends of the carrier would be preferably of the same size.

1) represents the stick to be bent.

Fig. 1, represents springs placed in front of the former b, which permit the carriers to pass into, but which prevent them from moving out of, the front of the former after they have once entered it.

It is the usual practice to place upon the outer side of a piece of wood to be bent a flexible strip of metal like our strip g to prevent the splintering or tearing of the wood upon the outside of the bend. This flexible strip of metal is necessarily thin, and if there be a weak place in the wood, or if the wood be thinner at one place than at another, the bending will first take place at this point, the wood bending in an angular manner instead of in a regular curve. Our former effectually prevents this fault, as it is so strong that it cannot be bent'out of its shape by any pressure that would be necessary to drive the wood through it. As the wood is driven through the former its ends gradually approach one another and its middle buckles upward against the former, which it closely hugs until it is driven out of its rear end with a bend of the same form as that of the rear end of the former.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a wood-bending machine in combination, a former having a continuous smooth under surface substantially flat at the forward end, the top gradually rising and the sides gradually approaching one another toward the rear end, so that at the rear end the under side of said former has the shape of the outer curve of the desired bent article, said former being adapted to engage at all times during the bending the outer side of the stick, guides upon the outer side of said former for engaging the ends of the stick, and means for successively driving the sticks through said former.

2. In a wood-bending machine, in combination, a former having a continuous under surface substantially flat at the forward end, the top gradually rising and the sides gradually approaching one another toward the rear end, so that at the rear end the under side has the shape of the outer curve of the finally-bent article, said former being adapted to engage the outer side of the stick continuously during the bending, guides upon the lower sides of said former for engaging the ends of the sticks, detents at the forward end of said former for permitting the entrance and preventing the withdrawal of the sticks at this end, and means for successively forcing the sticks to and through said former. I

8. In awood-bending machine, in combination, a former having a continuous smooth under surface, substantially flat at the forward end and at the rear end having the shape of the outer curve of the finally-bent article, guides upon the lower side of said former, a carrier having metal ends to receive the ends of the stick and to engage the guides on said former, and a strap to cover the outer side of the stick, and means for driving successive carriers into said former. v

4. In a wood-bending machine, in combination, a former having aeontinuous smooth under surface substantially fiat at the forward end and at the rear end having the shape of the outer curve of the finally-bent article, guides at the lower sides of said former for engaging the ends of the sticks to be bent, means within said former for softening the sticks, and means for driving the sticks through said former.

5. In a wood-bending machine in combination, a former within which the sticks are bent, means for driving said sticks through said former, means within said former for softening the sticks, and means without the rear end of said former for playing water upon the heated and bent sticks.

6. Ina wood-bending machine, in combination, a former having a continuous smooth under surface substantially flat at the forward end, and curving rearwardly so that at the rear end it has the shape of the outer curve of the finally-bent article, guides upon the lower sides of said former, steam-pipes and gas-burners within said former, a plunger for successively driving the sticks into said former and against one another, acam for actuating said plunger, and means for returning said plunger to its first position after having been operated upon by said cam.

7. In awood-bending machine, in combination, a former having a continuous smooth under surface substantially fiat at the forward end and curving rearwardly so that at the rear end it has the shape of the outer curve of the 

